I am organizing an NCA panel discussion to be submitted to either the Political Communication Division or the Religious Communication Association on the topic of religion and religious communication in the 2016 election campaigns.
Because I’m proposing a panel discussion, as opposed to a paper session, I will not need to provide individual presentation abstracts. However, I would like to construct a panel in which each participant is prepared to make a brief opening statement about a specific issue or a specific candidate.
Possible areas of focus include, but are not limited to, the following:
– religious communication in candidates’ campaign advertising
– outreach to people of faith on candidates’ web sites
– party platforms’ positions on religion or religious issues
– God talk in candidates’ live appearances (stump speeches, rallies, debates, etc.)
– 2016 campaign communication: denominationally religious or civil religious?
– appeals to evangelical voters (either focusing on one candidate, or comparing/contrasting the appeals of two or more candidates-say, Trump vs. Cruz , or Rubio vs. Carson)
– the (non) religiosity of Bernie Sanders, the rare Jewish candidate for US president
– references to religion/God/faith in U.S. Senate or U.S. House campaigns
– the involvement of religious leaders and/or religious organizations in candidates’ campaigns
– the Donald Trump vs. Pope Francis kerfuffle
– the role of religious communication in Hillary Clinton’s appeals to Southern/Black voters
Please e-mail me (davidweiss@unm.edu) a short description — 1 or 2 sentences — of your proposed area of focus, along with a brief bio focusing on your prior research in the area of political/religious communication, by Wednesday, March 23rd.
Thank you,
David Weiss, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Communication & Journalism
University of New Mexico
davidweiss@unm.edu